Hong Kong orders unauthorized cryptocurrency exchanges to ”cease legal operations”

Following guidelines issued by Hong Kong in February, unauthorized virtual currency exchanges are no longer allowed to provide official services locally.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SFC) has legally terminated the operation of all virtual currency exchanges that have not applied for an operating license.
The order required them to either apply for licenses or suspend operations within three months. During the period, 22 cryptocurrency exchanges applied for licenses to continue operating.
However, some of these companies withdrew their license applications just before the deadline, with OKX, Huobi, and others withdrawing in May alone.
Six cryptocurrency exchanges, including Hong Kong Securities and Exchange Commission (HK), have withdrawn from Hong Kong. As of the 31st of last month, 18 cryptocurrency exchanges had reportedly withdrawn from the market.
Only one exchange has applied for permission to operate in Hong Kong.
Exchange and OSL were the only exchanges that could receive approval. On the 1st (local time), the SFC announced the 11 exchanges that could receive approval.
However, the SFC drew the line that the exchange in question was deemed to be licensed, but had not yet been officially licensed.
According to industry sources, the exchanges included in the list are Matrixport,
These include HK, Accumulus GBA Technology, and Crypto.com.
The exchange may not be granted a license and, if not, will be required to immediately cease operations locally.